2013 Dalbello Krypton Two KR Pro

Will Brown

The Krypton Pro certainly isn’t a stranger to the 3-piece boot market. While it may not look all that different from years past, the 2013 Krypton Two KR Pro has been significantly re-hauled for 2013. We’ve been eager to check out a pair since trying the boots on at SIA, so we’ve brought them to Las Leñas.

What’s new about the KR2? Dalbello has retooled the Krypton to work as well as possible in conjunction with today’s wider skis and also improve the out-of-the-box fit.

The Krypton is now built with less forward lean, allowing the skier to take a more upright, neutral stance. With so many skis now designed to be skied from a more centered, progressive mount point, and a more neutral, upright ski position, it makes sense; not all skiers are merely looking to drive the skis’s shovels as hard as possible—they are jibbing, spinning, buttering, etc.

More features specific to the KR2 include interchangeable footboards, one firm and one shock absorbing.

The boot also comes with a pair of swappable tongues if you want to adjust the boot’s overall stiffness. Running the stiffer tongue, the KR2’s flex is rated at 130, and we’re curious to see how its stiffness and rebound compare to a “standard” 130-flex, 4-buckle boot.

Dalbello also recognizes that not all people who ski hard have anatomically idyllic feet. A big part of the Krypton’s new shell are the relief contours that are molded into the ankle, heel, navicular, and 6th toe (5th metatarsal) area, so you’re more likely to have a correct fit right off the bat. In Dalbello’s words, their mold design “delivers all the comfort, precision, and control of a close fitting, low volume, high performance ski boot that has been ‘punched’ and ‘stretched’ by a custom bootfitter…with minimal need for ‘punching’ or ‘stretching.'” One thing is certain, the new mold does seem to fit a little different than previous versions. And any attempt to make the boot fitting process easier is worthy of some recognition, but we’re curious to see whether these relief points have compromised the KR2’s performance at all.

Another interesting component of the new Krypton line is the design of it’s heel retention system. Both the KR2’s buckle (latch) and anchor of the center buckle strap (the middle of the three) are secured to the boot’s lower shell, not its upper cuff. As a result, the heel is held more securely in place and the lower shell is prevented from bulging and distorting during flexion. Dalbello has manged to achieve this while also keeping the hinge point of the upper cuff lower than what’s found on most 3-piece boot designs (which is said to give the KR2 a more natural flex).

The 6th rendition of the Krypton Pro, the KR2, certainly looks like an improved, fully modernized 3-piece freeride boot. We’ll be paying close attention to how the new KR2 differs from previous versions, and how the boot generally compares to another promising 3-piece boot we’ve brought along, which we’ll turn to next.

My first-impression article will have more details on fit and a comparison to the last Krypton shell. What is immediately noticeable is where material has been taken out at common pressure points, and the heel pocket has much more shape to it. I had to add material all over the place on the old Krypton to get my foot to stay locked in. With the KR2 I’ve had to do much less work. If you are pulling the trigger soon I have one important note, I’m considering going down one shell size. More info on that as it becomes available.

First Impression write-up will be coming soon. Here’s the gist: I took them out of the box and immediately jumped into difficult and variable snow with exposure, and never thought twice about the boots on my feet.

Can you write some notes about the I.D. version? Is it better in terms of customization, can you mold to you feet? I am in a dilemma which one to go for, the Pro or Pro I.D?
Thanks in advance for replies.

Yes, the Pro I.D. is 100% moldable to your foot and lower leg. The I.D. liner is also lighter, but I can’t give you specific numbers until I actually get a pair in hand.

My test pair have the stock Dalbello Pro liner and I have no complaints. If I were to buy a pair however, I would unquestionably go with the Pro I.D. for the custom fit and lighter weight.

I also have to add, if you are buying this boot I HIGHLY recommend going to a shop and getting a proper shell fit. I have used a 28.5 from all brands for years and am going down to a 27.5 in this shell.

Faulty Dalbello ski boots and Very Poor and Unhelpful customer service and management.

Dalbello ski boot company is the most unreliable and horrible company in terms of customer support and customer service when it comes to their faulty ski boots.

They are very unreliable and not to be trusted.

Stay away from them and buy the brand that has a strong customer support/service culture behind them.

They have a poor quality control and quality assurance system in place which do not care about faulty ski boots get to the final customer. and when the faulty ski boots get to the final customer they are very rude and irresponsible and they proved that they are very unreliable and cannot be trusted.

While I have fortunately not had to rely on customer service at Dalbello as per FDSBC’s comment above, I do not see a telephone # on their website. However, I have been extremely pleased with the performance & fit of my ’12-13 KR Two Fusion boots (120 flex with only “C” stiffness tongue but replaceable heel & toe pieces). Mine have the Dalbello performance moldeable “non-ID” liners. I am late 30’s Expert, 6’2″, 200lbs, 34 yrs. skiing, previously on 4 buckle race race boots for ~20 years, don’t ski moguls much anymore, but anything else is fair game. These boots are just incredible! With the flex wedges/blocks I can push the boots hard & I feel secure-and I don’t feel pain! I used them 5d. last year with stock insoles without custom footbeds & just had some new ones fitted for them this year, which I expect to improve the feel & fine control. SIZING: I wear a 13.5 shoe, old boots 30.5-31, these are a 29.5 & fit similarly-which I found surprising-but hey, it’s just a number! So: great performance, really nice fit, good adjustability, buy smaller size/try on before you buy.

Wow, I’m not sure what happened with FDSBC and Michael that lead to the above comments, I’m sure whatever it was, it must’ve been frusterating, but I’ve skied in Dalbello boots for 10 years and have been selling them in my store for about 15 years and have had nothing but great experiences. In all the time I’ve dealt with them, I can only remember a very small handful of times when there have been warranty claims and I can honestly say that they’ve been extremely reasonable and eager to help with any warranty issue or problem with the product. Most ski companies are pretty good when it comes to remedying issues, but I’d actually say that Dalbello is among the best I’ve dealt with in all my experience.